The £19.99 Lidl Synthesizer Is it any good and can we make music with it?

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  • Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
  • The £19.99 Lidl Synthesizer
    Is it any good and
    can we make music with it?
    A couple of weeks ago I made a video about some interesting things I found In Lidl recently, I also mentioned they did a Synth for £19.99. Well this week I bit the bullet and bought one and thought I would give it a go.
    In this video I do the following
    Unboxing and quick test
    Modify it so you can have a line out
    Demo of every sound that it has
    Compose a piece of original music using just the Lidl Sheffield Keyboard
    I hope you enjoy this video It was a lot of fun to do and one of the reasons why I started to do RUclips in the first place.
    PS As a footnote to the comments that say 'Its not a Synthesizer' well.. Does It look like a Synth? Yea kind of, Does it Sound like a Synthesizer? Well Ill let you be the judge of that after watching the video. But I say it does.
    If you like to support me, why not buy some music matthewnorth.ba...
    Join my mailing list via my website www.matthewnort...
    And Follow me on Facebook / matthewnorthmusic
    #matthewnorthmusic #lidl #synthesizer

Комментарии • 843

  • @fbushphone
    @fbushphone 8 месяцев назад +62

    If it will encourage kids or anyone to play and make music it's got to be worth 20 quid. These days basic recorders are this price in proper music shops - if you're lucky enough to have one that is - this little keyboard might lead someone to a grand piano one day. Thank you for posting this video and being positive despite the budget price

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +14

      Thanks you I do like to make videos about things that are affordable to everyone

    • @brusselssprouts560
      @brusselssprouts560 8 месяцев назад

      Beats melearning music on a Dolmetsch descant recorder!

  • @techtinkerin
    @techtinkerin 8 месяцев назад +229

    Poor parents who dont realise theres no headphone socket hahaa😂

    • @waynesilverman3048
      @waynesilverman3048 8 месяцев назад +6

      Worst -neighbours

    • @Jimfowler82
      @Jimfowler82 8 месяцев назад +6

      Crack open the soldering iron swap speakers for a headphone 😃

    • @Jimfowler82
      @Jimfowler82 8 месяцев назад +5

      Or do what he does 😂

    • @lioncurlew
      @lioncurlew 8 месяцев назад +1

      You can just run a Headphone socket from the Speaker terminals.
      Can probably wire a power supply as well.

    • @yavamaystudio8045
      @yavamaystudio8045 8 месяцев назад +1

      Sounds more interesting than MOOG

  • @DjDoggDad
    @DjDoggDad 8 месяцев назад +76

    A lot of people dont realize the big synth sound you can achieve by putting a few fx pedals on those keyboard tones. good vid!

    • @ShallRemainUnknown
      @ShallRemainUnknown 8 месяцев назад +7

      It's ceratinly as good sounding as OG Fairlight 8-bit 24kHz 16kB samples that made incredible-sounding early-'80s hits, BUT much of that relied heavily on effects, dynamics, mixing, and other post processing, mixing, etc., too.

  • @tomarmstrong1281
    @tomarmstrong1281 8 месяцев назад +11

    As someone with little knowledge of electronics or DAWs, I salute your skill, knowledge and ability.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +2

      Thank you very much that's very kind of you.

    • @tomarmstrong1281
      @tomarmstrong1281 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@MatthewNorthMusic You're welcome. If you have any recomenations of a step by step series of video tutorials on Garage band it would be appreciated.

  • @OscarInAsia
    @OscarInAsia 8 месяцев назад +155

    You know you're still just starting on your musical journey when you realize a random person on RUclips can make a better song in a $30 grocery store keyboard than I can on on my $800 Yamaha MX61. 😢

    • @enrique5167
      @enrique5167 8 месяцев назад +53

      Whatever you do, there's always some random dude on youtube doing it better than you 🤣

    • @wolfgangwiesinger9502
      @wolfgangwiesinger9502 8 месяцев назад +4

      The piece is nice and has potential. Reverb helps here, as it does always.

    • @Case_
      @Case_ 8 месяцев назад

      @@enrique5167 (And that knowledge can take a lot of joy out of doing stuff :( It's not that you think you're the best, it's just the crushing realization of how far from even "pretty good" you actually are...or ever will be.)

    • @MettleHurlant
      @MettleHurlant 8 месяцев назад +5

      Exactly why, as a middle aged hobbyist, I refuse to throw a lot of money into it. I just bought an EWI and a cheap midi controller and want to get started but feeling intimidated by the process of learning how to put it all together.

    • @djjava303
      @djjava303 8 месяцев назад +5

      I’d say that is the ache that you feel before a burst of learning. A true beginner just assumes that all their stuff is great. The further along you get, the more critical and nuanced you’ll likely be towards how you assess your music.

  • @berniarmstrong
    @berniarmstrong 8 месяцев назад +111

    I expected a truly cheesy keyboard, but your piece at the end shows that even a cheap piece of kit like this can produce something worthy of a soundtrack for a scene in a TBV Series or Film in the right hands. Well done, mate.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +8

      Wow thank you very much

    • @ekistic
      @ekistic 8 месяцев назад +10

      This is exactly what makes the difference: the artist. Same with photography where you don’t need an expensive camera. It probably still has more internal memory for the recording than the computer that brought people to the moon 😂

    • @joyoussound
      @joyoussound 8 месяцев назад +1

      I expected that and that’s what I got. Nothing much new since the supermarket keyboards they sold in the early 90’s for maybe 20-30 euros? Incredible that there’s still market for these. I would love to have one. My old one stopped working two years ago after being my essential composition tool for over three decadea or so….

    • @electrocat9
      @electrocat9 8 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@MatthewNorthMusichi,
      with 2 of these can it be done one stereo and with a double size keyboard?

    • @berniarmstrong
      @berniarmstrong 8 месяцев назад +2

      @@joyoussound I literally wept when my SK 01 Sampler gave up the ghost. I even took it to a technician, but he said it was beyond repair (or his skills?). Do you remember them? They were the first cheap sampler - no permanent memory, but a fun tool to use while the power was switched on. 😁

  • @KoolKookyKreatures
    @KoolKookyKreatures 8 месяцев назад +15

    Absolute genius Matthew! A thoroughly engaging video with the piece at the end being the icing on the synthy cake. Fabulous! Also - “the Clangers”!

  • @danthreepwood2760
    @danthreepwood2760 8 месяцев назад +11

    Hook it up with a Big Sky and you can probably use it to record a full length album

  • @DanYule55
    @DanYule55 8 месяцев назад +43

    I work at Lidl and we’ve just got these in to my store. Was really intrigued to find out how these sounded and played.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +18

      Please tell the bosses about my video

    • @HD2You
      @HD2You 8 месяцев назад

      @@MatthewNorthMusic store bosses are too small to really appreciate your video. They are just some local boss with no power outside the store.

  • @Mephysto65
    @Mephysto65 8 месяцев назад +16

    Really Impressive! Art Of Noise would have saved a lot of money in equipment at that time. Lol

  • @wacholder5690
    @wacholder5690 8 месяцев назад +2

    I'm impressed. Even though it needs some mods for proper "work" - and a multitrack recorder. But the sounding is absolutely nice. Thanks for sharing !

  • @richardlanchester249
    @richardlanchester249 8 месяцев назад +1

    The Eurhythmics built their first home recirding studio with a lot of very basic or secondhand equipment on a tight budget, and recorded their famous first album on it.
    Lots of quirky fun sounds from cheap equipment like this, as well as excellent songs. Much more interesting stuff than their later albums with high production values and made using top pro studio gear.

    • @domfjbrown75
      @domfjbrown75 8 месяцев назад

      REALLY!?? 'In the garden' sounds really good musically and sonically! You learn summat new every day :)

  • @duncanparsons
    @duncanparsons 8 месяцев назад +20

    I love that it's called "Sheffield" - Northern home of electronic music!
    The naming puts me in mind of Look Around You's Bournemouth computer..
    That piece of music is lovely, and wouldn't have been out of place on many early 80s electronica albums
    Nice video, thank you :-)

    • @Dobbersify
      @Dobbersify 8 месяцев назад

      I might have to get one of these, just because it's named after my home town! 😂

    • @alleygh0st
      @alleygh0st 8 месяцев назад

      I was gonna say, but I also had the bleep scene in mind

    • @raywt3237
      @raywt3237 3 месяца назад +1

      Thanks Duncan, Thuncan

  • @TheDevilBoySound
    @TheDevilBoySound 8 месяцев назад +23

    That was awesome! With the simple addition of an output jack, you transformed it from a toy into an actual tool :)

  • @brimans3092
    @brimans3092 8 месяцев назад +2

    You actually get a proper manual booklet which even Roland couldn't be bothered to include with the boutiques.. Behringer same attitude too.. Penny pinchers

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      Behringer used to have half a trees worth of manuals in the more recent past

  • @IainiaI
    @IainiaI 8 месяцев назад +2

    This is giving me an almost identical vibe to Super Nintendo game soundtracks, especially Japanese RPGs, when in a dungeon.❤

  • @acerbt
    @acerbt 8 месяцев назад +6

    That is one of the many random chinese made toy keyboards that takes samples from roland sound canvice devices, among others. There's no telling what exact model this is since there are no identifiers on most of them and sometimes there are many very slightly different versions, including the same exact system in another case with a different button layout sometimes. This particular one isn't all sound Canvice based but it does follow the gm or gs sound mapping for the preset order though.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      Wow where did you learn this ?

    • @acerbt
      @acerbt 8 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@MatthewNorthMusic It's taken many years, an interest in midi, and early exposure to the sounds in chinese made drum machine and keyboard toys from years ago. INitially when I herd the sounds on my first pc I thought that was where they came from and that the toys that use them somehow integrate windows synth stuff, but come to find out, that sound set that I first herd which I know so well was licenced directly from roland to microsoft and apple for their computers, and toy manufacturers and those who make lower end keyboards in China tend to steal them, sometimes getting the atributes such as attack, release, loop point offset, etc correct, and sometimes not. Even some higher end keyboards have a few thrown in there but by that point they've usually used other sounds. Also notorius is the fact that the manufacturer called Holtek who makes different multi purpose chips puts a Yamaha xg compatable sound bank on their midi chips that has low quality, sometimes cut down versions of the real Yamaha sounds that predate the current xglight sounds featured on Yamaha's current home keyboards. They even use the xg layout for the drum kit which is pretty unusual, since most keyboards where the full drum kit can be accessed use a gm/ gs sound set so that layout is used. Many keyboards have also used these chips as well. I could go on, but this kind of thing is very common today, with many of the keyboards you can get a brand name on for cheep either using roland sounds, yamaha sounds, or a combination of sounds from several sources, though like I said about the small differences between units that sometimes exist, you could have a keyboard that looks pretty much the same as another but has a totally different IC and data rom that it could have totally different sounds, demo songs, rhythm/ accompanying patterns, and features.

  • @ronanmcconnell7664
    @ronanmcconnell7664 8 месяцев назад +1

    This randomly was recommended to me RUclips is pushing your video through the algorithm and so it should be a very refreshing review I hope you keep this content going

  • @stevenlagoe7808
    @stevenlagoe7808 8 месяцев назад +10

    What an interesting video! And your composition at the end was amazing!
    I actually picked up one of these keyboards the other day in my local Lidl. I gave the box a once over and put it back with a sneer. For £19.99 I reckoned it would sound like a Stylophone. Shame on me!

  • @RayyMusik
    @RayyMusik 8 месяцев назад +3

    Well … nice … but for only £4.919 more you could get a Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave which sounds even slightly better. It doesn’t have speakers though.

  • @BiserAngelov1
    @BiserAngelov1 8 месяцев назад +20

    Definitely worth the price. Although the headphone upgrade is almost mandatory, to access its full potential. It is a hit-and-miss, but the good ones are really cool indeed. Would have killed to have something like this as a kid. I received my first Casio CTK-200 keyboard at my 13th birthday. It was 1994.

    • @SpeccyMan
      @SpeccyMan 8 месяцев назад +10

      My first was a (totally crap sounding) Bontempi Reed Organ back in 1972. One tone and it was fan powered and the fan was loud.

    • @YtuserSumone-rl6sw
      @YtuserSumone-rl6sw 8 месяцев назад +2

      If LIDL decides to manufacture this keyboard with direct computer connectivity or midi outlet and sell it in a similar price region they'll have a hit.

    • @michael5089
      @michael5089 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@SpeccyManThere's a comment on here from someone called Bontempi!❤❤😂

    • @LarthVolos
      @LarthVolos 8 месяцев назад

      My kid found bontempi memoplay from fleamarket by 10 euros. @@SpeccyMan

  • @davidking5765
    @davidking5765 8 месяцев назад +2

    I would have loved one of these as a child. I reckon a young child would get a lot of pleasure out of this.

  • @ariahrendt6166
    @ariahrendt6166 8 месяцев назад +3

    Not sure if everyone is familiar with the word "synthesizer" and what is the difference between a synthesizer and a Sample-ROM player keyboard with Standard-MIDI sample soundbank.

  • @tigmil8116
    @tigmil8116 8 месяцев назад +6

    Dude. This is awesome. So many commenters get this is a 30 dollar keyboard apparently and expect way too much from it and you. This is designed for kids and beginners, and because of the it wont be made of metal, have midi ins and out, and the features youd find in something that cost ten of these. Anything can be made to be usuable if youre creative enough. Every sound as a place. You can add effects or other things once you add an output. Which i have done on a ton of cheap kids keyboards and childrens toys. I have analog, digital synths, and samplers but if i want something a little different and unique these kinds of things with some minor tweaks can be good sounding instruments. I believe anyone can get a sound they like out of something if they spend enough time with a piece of gear. Price doesnt matter. If it sounds a little flat you can always add things and fx.
    Its basic. Its features are also basic. I feel these people complaining are either insanely spoiled or entitled. Maybe even lack the creativity to get a good sound out of something like this. With sound almost nothing is impossible. If youre musical and brain activity is limited then yeah you will probably hate it. I hate my one and only volca (an fm) but ive managed to use it in all sorts of stuff and tweak it to my liking.
    Literally anything that puts out sound can be used productively and sound good if you put the effort in. I get the feeling some of the "musicians" dont like effort.
    Best things in life is the reward you get struggling.

  • @shambien
    @shambien 8 месяцев назад +6

    Wonderful. I love this type of hacks... it's possible to make art with what you have; you don't need fancy/expensive stuff if you are creative! This is the first time I stumble into one of your videos... I am subscribing, I am sure you have more cool stuff. Keep up the awesome work! On a side note: LIDL (/Sheffield) never ceases to amaze: a few years ago they also had a DRUM Set .... which has really crappy internal sounds BUT it has even MIDI OUT support... so you can actually use those pads (altough they are very simple, implemented using a piezo, internally... converting the volume of the record noise into velocity...).

  • @PocketOperatorGuy
    @PocketOperatorGuy 8 месяцев назад +13

    I like the lo-fi sounds this little machine produces. The neat thing is, it reminds me of some of those sounds you hear from early 90s Tracker software. Some of those strings and pads, especially the brass instruments sound synthetic. I think it would make a potential synth if it was patched through a few effects pedals.
    The drum machine isn't too bad either. Very 80's sounding.
    Not a bad sounding little toy for what it is.
    It's definitely a mass produced chassis. Kinda like the Yamaha PSS series, or the Meledi model keyboards you see on the market.
    Nice review.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +4

      When I was a kid around 1981 I remember the Yamaha portasound keyboards coming out they were revolutionary

  • @gerryking4346
    @gerryking4346 8 месяцев назад

    Great video. It would be interesting to see a demo video of how a beginner might use this as a keyboard learning tool, out of the box without any modifications. I’m sure the people at Lidl would share and promote that over this video of how to take apart and modify.

  • @panlomito
    @panlomito 8 месяцев назад +18

    Last Christmas we were visited by a family from the Netherlands with a 8 yo girl. She was bored so I took her apart to my Yamaha DGX-640 and let her play with it. After one hour she was still playing (kind of). A product like this is ideal for children to start enjoy making music. If it does not work out it is no financial disaster...

    • @panlomito
      @panlomito 8 месяцев назад

      @@LOKEY-Giant_Atom The joy of a dirty mind...

  • @roxammon5858
    @roxammon5858 8 месяцев назад +1

    Buy two - one for the left hand, one for the right !

  • @AndrewMolyneux
    @AndrewMolyneux 8 месяцев назад

    Love that composition 🙂 Next challenge is to get another 7, add a microcontroller with a MIDI interface and make an 8-part multitimbral sound module 🤪

  • @CassetteComeback
    @CassetteComeback 8 месяцев назад +24

    Great vid. I think having access to an almost unlimited amount of sounds nowadays, through VSTs etc, has killed creativity. Sometimes limitations fuel invention...keeping it simple makes you concentrate more on the music, than on the sounds alone.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +7

      Your absolutely right Tony I got plugins coming out of my ears but this is much more satisfying

    • @WesleyWattley-xy4fg
      @WesleyWattley-xy4fg 8 месяцев назад

      How much will you charge for an output redo??​@@MatthewNorthMusic

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      I don't I do this for fun / experimentation

  • @mrorinocobottle9371
    @mrorinocobottle9371 8 месяцев назад +2

    I've never heard of Emma by the Sisters of Mercy but the same pattern sounds a bit like a K Tel version of Mama by Genesis.

  • @MikeSwannick
    @MikeSwannick 8 месяцев назад

    I had this video on whilst doing something else and when you pressed he space bar to play your composition the Phil Speiser promo started (somewhat seemlessly) and I thought 'Holy F**k, he really got some quality audio out of that puppy'. Then I discovered what had happened. Your composition did demo the keyboard well though.

  • @PaulMc-qn7iv
    @PaulMc-qn7iv 8 месяцев назад +1

    Witchcraft ! , could be a sound track to one of those Danish noir films !
    273 thumbs down....? Bonkers....!
    Bravo sir !

  • @tronlady1
    @tronlady1 8 месяцев назад +1

    LOVE yourT-shirt ❤

  • @siriusmicromaniac
    @siriusmicromaniac 8 месяцев назад +13

    Like others below my first, maybe only requirement for something which calls itself a 'synthesiser' is that it should allow the user to create new sounds either by directly working with the oscillators, VCF, VCA and ADSR envelope shaping, or at least by mixing several base sounds (samples and / or waveforms) together in a controlled way to make new sounds - what Roland used to call 'Linear Additive' synthesis. Since this has none of those I think it would be more correct to call it a 'Keyboard'. Thanks for the comprehensive review, but having seen it I would suggest that anyone considering spending £20 on one of these should instead put it towards the purchase of an old Yamaha PSS-795 - although essentially also just a a 'keyboard' that has full MIDI / multitimbral capability plus a built in multitrack recorder, the ability to blend 4 of its normal sounds together via its 'Vector sound' joystick and a pretty hefty sampled drumkit as well. I bought one for exactly the price of this LIDL keyboard a few years back. Of course the difference is that you can just go around the corner and buy one of these (while stocks last?) and you may have to wait a while to find a reasonably priced PSS-795.

    • @LarthVolos
      @LarthVolos 8 месяцев назад

      Agree. OT: If you are building sound studio or kind of, you might use function generators instead of synthz.

    • @geordieghoulette7142
      @geordieghoulette7142 8 месяцев назад

      Maybe something lost in translation if it started in the German market? I agree though.

  • @juhokoski6618
    @juhokoski6618 8 месяцев назад +2

    Nice song! This again proves that pro is a pro no matter the equipment

  • @x10dc90
    @x10dc90 8 месяцев назад

    It reminds me of the Yamaha A-50, at least in the form factor and the fact that its also multi timbral, although this keyboard has more tones. The A-50 also has sustain and if you manage to use an USB MIDI HOST and connect a MIDI keyboard with a mod wheel, you can access the vibrato effect. Very nice composition at the end.

  • @martinheath5947
    @martinheath5947 8 месяцев назад

    I love it! Last week I bought a Joyo AC TONE (Vox AC30 emulator) pedal in Cash Converters for £21.99. These two would make a fantastic pairing for under forty five quid, especially with the beefy AC30 amp sim drive cranked!

  • @_MisterG
    @_MisterG 8 месяцев назад +2

    ... and if you don't like it, there's always circuit bending :)

  • @iant9461
    @iant9461 8 месяцев назад +1

    This man is what British is.

  • @toshishimura
    @toshishimura 8 месяцев назад +1

    In his next video he turns a Kia Picanto into a Bentley Continental

  • @midinotes
    @midinotes 8 месяцев назад +12

    Was hoping to see the underside of the pcb and see if it was just a blob chip. Plenty of options here with arduino midi control, beat sync and faux stereo! Great to see what is achievable for under 20 squid.... less than a VL1 back in the early 80s.

    • @SpeccyMan
      @SpeccyMan 8 месяцев назад +4

      Almost certain to be a blob based device.

    • @RebeccaTurner-ny1xx
      @RebeccaTurner-ny1xx 8 месяцев назад +3

      My VL-Tone was, I think, £35 from Dixons in 1979 which is £165 today. I even played it onstage in a local band.

    • @wiegraf9009
      @wiegraf9009 8 месяцев назад +1

      What is a blob chip?

    • @midinotes
      @midinotes 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@wiegraf9009 Usually an integrated circuit is packaged in a square or rectangular black slab of hard plastic material with pins emerging in an ordered pattern either side or around the package. This allows the package to then be soldered on to a circuit board. A blob chip saves money and space by eliminating the packaging and literally bonding the silicon chip (which is just mm in size) to the circuit board. Extremely fine 'bond wires' then connect the chip to the copper tracks on the printed circuit board, then a 'blob' of epoxy resin or similar is placed over the entire chip and bond wires to protect it from damage. Hence the term 'blob chip'. It makes replacing or even connecting to the chip impossible and there's no identification or marking as to what the device is.

    • @wiegraf9009
      @wiegraf9009 8 месяцев назад

      @@midinotes Thanks I had a general idea but didn't know in detail.

  • @AnnFBug
    @AnnFBug 8 месяцев назад

    You might be interested in another Lidl review: Sarah Jeffrey investigated ‘The £18 Wooden Recorder from Lidl’, a year ago. She was blown away with the responsiveness and tone, but a brilliant recorder was seriously let down by seriously bad tuning, partially alleviated by very unconventional fingering in the tutor book that accompanies the purchase.
    It seems this one is let down by a lack of outputs and power supply. However, as an ex-synthesiser owner from the eighties, I agree! My DX7 had more than this, but cost the kind of money for which a mortgage might be appropriate; and now a fair amount of what I had in my DX7 is on offer in a £20 instrument?
    This is a new channel for me and I didn’t hesitate to subscribe. Good stuff!

    • @AnnFBug
      @AnnFBug 8 месяцев назад

      No, your reply disappeared, whoever you were. I don’t think this is a controversial conversation. I do wish, if YT insists on removing replies, that it would at least give a reason for the removal and preferably the option of viewing it if you want to take the risk.

  • @phillipbailey70
    @phillipbailey70 8 месяцев назад +8

    Best thing I've watched on RUclips for a long time - hooked from the beginning from the end, and as the music came together I was cracking the biggest smile! Very Art of Noise - liked and subscribed - thank you Matthew

  • @-______-______-
    @-______-______- 8 месяцев назад

    Love the pics in your workshop. I once saw an absolute to die for picture in a pub in brighton. It was Nik Nak and Scaramanga as a magic duo. Can't even find that image online.

  • @KarateWerewolf
    @KarateWerewolf 8 месяцев назад +27

    Would be cool to make a sample pack out of it. Some of the sounds are pretty cool.
    Nice job on the song too, amazing what you got out of it.

  • @MrChopemup
    @MrChopemup 8 месяцев назад +2

    It’s a clifton slm-37 ,,, 10 years old , rebranded for lidl.

  • @mikedown1250
    @mikedown1250 8 месяцев назад +2

    crazy how those sounds would have cost thousands of pounds back in the 70's...now they cost a burger and a beer

  • @diamondfieldmusic
    @diamondfieldmusic 8 месяцев назад

    That Orchestra Hit is worth it alone!
    You could get a couple of these and a drum machine and play some live synth pop!
    Pity the sounds in the rhythm tracks aren't available as a separate sound bank to play individually.

  • @RobBob555
    @RobBob555 8 месяцев назад +1

    Nothing more annoying than a RUclipsr begging for subs right at the top of the video 😕 IF people like your videos enough, they WILL subscribe..you don't have to ask them 🤷..the one massive thing you have in your favour..no background music..that's fantastic, nothing worse than background music on videos with narration..so well done 👍

  • @SYQmusic
    @SYQmusic 8 месяцев назад +1

    Looks don't decide if something is a synthesizer or not. It has no oscillators and zero ways to shape sound, just wavetables that are played. Barely a synth - just a Home Keyboard.

  • @NickT6630
    @NickT6630 8 месяцев назад +6

    What a bargain! The sounds are really quite decent. Perfect for 80's pop, rock, and electro, hiphop, house and reggae :)

  • @Probodger
    @Probodger 8 месяцев назад

    Really impressed with this, would love to see how you went about composing and producing the tune. I thought it was really impressive and inspiring.

  • @brimans3092
    @brimans3092 8 месяцев назад +3

    Can't wait for Behringer to clone it.... 😮

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      That's the best comment so far !

    • @snookerthedog9935
      @snookerthedog9935 8 месяцев назад

      If they do it'll probably break!

    • @Jack-fs2im
      @Jack-fs2im 8 месяцев назад

      @@MatthewNorthMusicMiditech already do a keyboard for £25 with built in sounds and touch sensitive and outputs

    • @Jack-fs2im
      @Jack-fs2im 8 месяцев назад

      Miditech KS32 has it all built in and outputs too .The sounds are usable

  • @anorganlover6281
    @anorganlover6281 8 месяцев назад +1

    I think the composition at the end sounds like the background for THE X FILES TV THEME !

  • @randywatson8347
    @randywatson8347 8 месяцев назад +3

    Ahhh... back in the late 80's my Casio SA-1 costed 4 times more than this😅
    But for that price it's pretty decent and polythonic. Not having a headphone and DC connection is a negative. Also unfortunately has no drum set. I love the composition you made at the end.

  • @suznet
    @suznet 8 месяцев назад +2

    don't know why this popped up on my feed, but glad it did, shame it didn't have a headphone jack & power option as standard or I would try 1 out.Thanks Matthew.

  • @jimbim4405
    @jimbim4405 8 месяцев назад +1

    When you think about it, this ain't half bad considering.... A company as powerful as Aldi or LIDL will be marking up at 100%, so they've bough this at £10. And then there are the batteries which are included - say £2 - so in all you have a noise making machine for about £8!! Not bad going, when you think of it! (And no - I won't be buying one. I come from the Prophet 5 era!)

  • @allrighter0413
    @allrighter0413 6 месяцев назад +1

    I think you have a newer revision as the one I have is from 2019 and has a different circuit board layout and some different sounds.

  • @TheKetsa
    @TheKetsa 8 месяцев назад

    That little composition at 28:30 reminds me of dungeon synth.
    I like it.

  • @andyg1957
    @andyg1957 8 месяцев назад +3

    Bought one for my 1 year old grandson. At some point he might upgrade to the large Roland organ I play! It's got some good sounds for £20!

  • @pauljs75
    @pauljs75 8 месяцев назад +3

    I guess inexpensive commodity chips pretty much can handle the Creative Labs (Audigy?) soundfont? (The samples sound familiar.) In the 90's you could do this on a budget with one of the Sound Blaster audio cards in a PC handling some MIDI input. But this comes down to less than a 10th of that, and that fraction is likely somewhat smaller if you consider inflation.

  • @greenaum
    @greenaum 8 месяцев назад

    You could likely power it from USB, 4xAA batteries will go down past 5V as they run out and the keyboard ought to cope with that. Worth a try I think if you were going to play with it often.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      Yes, but I find USB power a faff, it easier to fit a DC Barrell jack, and add a regulator to it, job done. See the follow up when I do it!

    • @greenaum
      @greenaum 8 месяцев назад

      @@MatthewNorthMusic You can get boards that expose the power pins with a USB socket on them, for pennies, buy them 10 at a time for not much money. Apart from that where's the hassle? 5V at 500mA should be fine and most dumb chargers will spit that out. I mention is because USB power is literally everywhere, you could run it off a power bank or a phone charger or whatever you have.
      It's not like USB C with all the negotiations for different voltages and things that necessarily need smarts, though even for that you can buy modules for not so much.
      I dunno if I've even SEEN a barrel jack on a power supply for years!

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      As I said, its more use to use a barrel Boss pedal type PSU as its just more standard and I have more knocking about. @@greenaum

  • @stevenholt1867
    @stevenholt1867 8 месяцев назад +1

    Kraftwerk Autobahn on the keyboard. Better than the Stylophone. I suggest to use rechargeable batteries.

  • @Pulsonar
    @Pulsonar 8 месяцев назад +1

    He throws it down on his pizza TV chair and prods at it like it has yet to earn the label of ‘musical instrument’ and a place at his music making table 😂

  • @jmsjms296
    @jmsjms296 8 месяцев назад +2

    Garbage. Avoid!

  • @DiiDahh
    @DiiDahh 8 месяцев назад +1

    SUPERB THANK YOU ❤

  • @SpookyLuvCookie
    @SpookyLuvCookie 8 месяцев назад +4

    The way you toss the instructions to one side (2:45) earned you a sub. :)

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      As Derek Trotter would say Instructions are for whimps. :)

  • @neilmutter50
    @neilmutter50 8 месяцев назад +1

    Are you the dude that was in All Living Fear who welcomed us to the sonic mind f##k at the Lanterns in the early 90's?

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      yes indeed we played the Lanterns 3 times. once in 1993 when we were more a goth Covers band, then in 1994 and again in 99 I think when we supported Rootjoose.

  • @alexandershendi7428
    @alexandershendi7428 8 месяцев назад +2

    Terrific! Thanks, mate! Now I somehow want "Promenade" from "Pictures at an Exhibition" done with the "t52" setting.
    ❤❤❤

  • @dubski_01
    @dubski_01 8 месяцев назад

    Good stuff mate.
    Sending love and best wishes from your Scottish brother.
    🤟😉🤘

  • @mowglippml
    @mowglippml 8 месяцев назад +5

    Great video
    I'll be honest I skipped most of the tone demo - does it play the Amen break?

    • @techtinkerin
      @techtinkerin 8 месяцев назад +4

      If it has ride cymbal, bass drum and snare then it theoretically could do!😊

  • @Pai3000
    @Pai3000 8 месяцев назад +1

    Huge SNES vibes there...

  • @theimp67
    @theimp67 8 месяцев назад +5

    That's actually quite a lot of keyboard for a penny under £20. I still can't imagine Mark Kelly adding this to his touring rig. Also, Fugazi, cracking album, and one of my all time favourites.

    • @jazztheglass6139
      @jazztheglass6139 8 месяцев назад +1

      I remember The Human League record Open your Heart. A casio VL Tone was used, it cost £35 in 1981

  • @TheLokiBiz
    @TheLokiBiz 8 месяцев назад +12

    I guess technically a "synthesizer" is anything that electronically produces sound for music - But I tend to assume "synthesizer" means you can alter the timbre of your instrument via filters, envelopes, FM etc. - and would just call this a "keyboard" instead. Either way, it was cool to see the sounds you got outta it.

    • @andy70d35
      @andy70d35 8 месяцев назад

      Exactly this is just a kid's toy, it is NOT a synthesizer, this guy is an idiot.

    • @frankweiser3895
      @frankweiser3895 8 месяцев назад

      The difference to an actual synthesizer is 2 zeros in the price. What we're hearing here is a keyboard from a toy store.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +2

      Thank you for your superior knowledge and support your kindness is overwhelming. . . . . .

    • @TheLokiBiz
      @TheLokiBiz 8 месяцев назад

      @@frankweiser3895 Eh, even just adding one zero to the price could at least get you one of the cheaper Behringer clones. It's all semantics anyway.

  • @waynesilverman3048
    @waynesilverman3048 8 месяцев назад +1

    Wouldn't call it a synth unless u add filter fx and others is there saw? My 1st 'electronic ' keyboard massive midi Casio has synth sampled envelope sounds ,reason I loved my korg mini yrs later

  • @clivewi9103
    @clivewi9103 7 месяцев назад

    Head phone socket needs a 100 Ohm resistor in line to reduce the audio level, just look at any hi-fi circuit diagram.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  7 месяцев назад

      It was just a bodge to get something out of it. I will be doing more mods at some point

  • @eddiemoore6216
    @eddiemoore6216 8 месяцев назад +1

    Though some reverb , delay ,filters etc and your away

  • @andy70d35
    @andy70d35 8 месяцев назад +1

    Use it on gigs or in the studio, what the hell have you been smoking? It sounds terrible.

  • @grimlyghost
    @grimlyghost 8 месяцев назад +6

    its perfect for 8bit lofi dungeon synth.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      It definitely has that 8-bit vibe like the sounds from my music 5000 for the BBC micro

  • @RobinPalmerTV
    @RobinPalmerTV 8 месяцев назад +1

    I'm actually mind blown by the sound quality of this wee thing.

  • @Stoney3K
    @Stoney3K 8 месяцев назад +2

    Those sounds are like the standard collection of General MIDI patches. They probably have one of those cheap ROMpler wavetable chips in there, so if you're lucky you can break into the board and feed the chip MIDI directly.
    Slap some outboard FX on it and you can probably get some decent music out of it.

  • @brad42948
    @brad42948 8 месяцев назад

    Polyphony, rather than multi-timbrality. Great demo at the end... basic 'GM on a chip' sounds. Nice channel, subbed!

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      Yes Freudian slip not saying polyphony but hey nobody's perfect

  • @DamianMellor
    @DamianMellor 8 месяцев назад +4

    Great video and very inspiring for anyone who thinks they need expensive plugins or synths to make music. Thank you for sharing :)

  • @Hammerman48
    @Hammerman48 8 месяцев назад +5

    Vince Clarke would create a hit with it.

    • @virtuafighter3
      @virtuafighter3 8 месяцев назад +1

      This composition at the end is impressive.

  • @ProfSimonHolland
    @ProfSimonHolland 8 месяцев назад

    thanks for your review

  • @kleinebre
    @kleinebre 8 месяцев назад

    Would be interesting to find out if there's a MIDI feed in there somewhere that you could tap into. The record/playback and demo mode don't guarantee it, but it would make sense to reach for an existing standard rather than building a new one from scratch.

  • @TechBaffle
    @TechBaffle 8 месяцев назад +2

    I still don't understand why they don't put headphone jacks on this! I imagine parent's regret when their kids don't make the most melodic tones haha

  • @edwardfletcher7790
    @edwardfletcher7790 8 месяцев назад +1

    I think those Meowsic Cat keyboards are better :P

  • @KeyGuy88
    @KeyGuy88 8 месяцев назад +1

    Cheap synth, Circuit Bending and Cakewalk?? JaCkPoT!!!

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад

      I'm glad this thread is showing lots of love for cakewalk. Been a user since 1996.

  • @Freq_Pimp
    @Freq_Pimp 8 месяцев назад +1

    can it be ran through a kaos pad?

  • @Luenebahn
    @Luenebahn 8 месяцев назад +2

    A real bargain with great polyphony.
    I wonder if there are solder pads for a line out or a headphone jack on the other side of the PCB. It's likely that they didn't change the PCB layout for the "jackless" version.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +1

      I will have a look in the follow up dont think so though.

  • @blackdanter
    @blackdanter 8 месяцев назад +3

    There's an old saying Matt "All the gear, no idea" and you pretty much highlight that here. It's not about the kit, it's about the individuals creativity. I love that this thing is called the Sheffield, one of those places where so much great music was made on a zero budget in the late 70's/80's (Cabaret Voltaire etc.).

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +2

      That is a fantastic saying.

    • @MatthewNorthMusic
      @MatthewNorthMusic  8 месяцев назад +4

      @@PGHEngineer The film 'Made in Sheffield' is highly recommended.

    • @geordieghoulette7142
      @geordieghoulette7142 8 месяцев назад

      I started piano lessons so that I wouldn't be one of those people who only used the white keys on my synths 😂

  • @SideQuestStories
    @SideQuestStories 8 месяцев назад +1

    This gets the Ian Beale of Approval

  • @desperatedan3985
    @desperatedan3985 8 месяцев назад +1

    Can’t argue, a bargain at £20👌

  • @milasudril
    @milasudril 8 месяцев назад +1

    Storage is cheap, audio does not eat much storage.

  • @alexandershendi7428
    @alexandershendi7428 8 месяцев назад +1

    Thanks!

  • @Hedgehogsinthemist123
    @Hedgehogsinthemist123 8 месяцев назад +1

    For £20 it's a no brainer and great for a five year old.

  • @Jonas-bn8gp
    @Jonas-bn8gp 8 месяцев назад +2

    Art of noise but better sample rate hehe